


Never Out of Sight

by MadAshes



Category: Megalo Box (Anime)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Fluff, Injury Recovery, Joe learns to dance, Light Angst, Lots of cuddles, M/M, Physical Disability, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 16:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15344253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadAshes/pseuds/MadAshes
Summary: After they are both discharged from the hospital following the championship match, Joe and Yuri learn to navigate retirement and a budding relationship together.Inspired by the quote from Yuri's boxing coach.3-17-19 UPDATE: Not abandoned, but new chapters will be sporadic and unplanned. Work/school life is super busy and will be for a while.





	Never Out of Sight

**Author's Note:**

> So...this is my first time writing fanfiction in about 7-8 years, I think? (Pretty sure AO3 wasn’t that popular yet when I last wrote fics so I was posting on FF.net, if that tells you anything.) I’m definitely feeling a bit rusty, but this fandom needs WAY more love than it’s getting! I have more Megalobox fics coming soon, so updates will likely be staggered so I can keep some focus on all of them. Hope you all enjoy!!!
> 
>  
> 
> "If you're lucky enough to run into a fighter in your generation who you want to win against, from the bottom of your heart, consider yourself blessed. If you ever find someone like that, never let him out of your sight."

Joe felt his glove connect with Yuri’s face. The Russian man’s body slowly crumbled, almost as if in slow motion, and the brunette thought he saw a smile on his face as he went down. When Yuri’s body hit the floor and the red diagonal lines lit up the floor of the ring, only tense silence followed. The crowd stared in disbelief.

“10…9...8…7… _6…5…4… **3…2…1!** ”_

Joe could barely hear the crowd’s cheers rattling through his head. He couldn’t believe it. He won. He defeated _Yuri_.

A pure feeling of elation flooded through his body as he let his eyes wander the crowd. They were all chanting his name, the name of the new Megalobox champion.

 _“Gearless” Joe_.

He didn’t have long to cherish the moment of victory once Yuri hit the ground and the ten seconds were up. As he raised a gloved hand up in the air and was proclaimed the new champion, his vision began to fade and he stumbled. He heard coach Nanbu yelling at him from outside the ring, but the words were muffled and his ears were ringing. He struggled to keep his breathing even and eyes open as he tried to make his way to his teammates. He wouldn’t be able to stay standing for much longer.

The last thing he remembers as he struggled to step down out of the ring was looking back to see paramedics rushing towards Yuri’s unconscious body before it all went black.

~o~o~o~o~o~

_Yuri!_

He woke up in a hospital bed, startled and gasping for breath, with a couple of doctors standing a little ways from the bed. He briefly glanced around the room before settling his gaze on the doctors. The old man and the kid weren’t there.

“Ah, good to see you’re awake now, Mr…?”

“Joe. Just Joe.”

“Right. Good to see you still have your wits about you, Mr. Joe. You’ve been unconscious for two days, so it wouldn’t be unusual to experience some confusion,” the doctor replied stiffly. The megaloboxer frowned. He hated their guts already.

“You have a pretty nasty concussion, a dislocated jaw, internal bleeding, a broken rib or two, and some other fractures, to name a few things,” the other doctor said. “The damage is already bad enough. If the match had gone on any longer than it did, you would have been in much worse shape.”

As if he didn’t know that already. Joe huffed at them and glanced away. The less he had to speak to them, the better. One doctor approached the machines beside his bed and scribbled a few numbers down on a clipboard, then nodded to the other doctor.

“Looks like your vitals are still stable for now. The smaller injuries should heal just fine if given a _proper_ amount of time to heal. The main concerns now are the concussion, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.”

“I’ve dealt with worse. Can I go now? I need to find my friends.” He had dealt with each of those before after matches, just not usually all of them piled on top of each other. At least, not until he entered Megalonia. Even so, this was undoubtedly the worst shape he had ever been in after a match. But he wouldn’t let the doctors know that.

“You won’t be discharged for a while, I’m afraid,” one doctor interjected. “We have to keep you on bedrest for the time being so you won’t push yourself too hard, and to ensure you don’t end up with brain damage or a punctured lung, among other possible complications that could occur.”

“Tch, fine. Where’s the old man and the kid? And what about Yuri?”

“Your friends left to find something to eat. They said to tell you they will return shortly, so try to have a little patience. As for the ex-champion…” The doctor paused here, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t have the heart to. Seeing the look on the doctor’s face made Joe’s stomach drop. “...I can’t say. Doctor-patient confidentiality.”

And with that the doctors turned away and left. Joe was almost tempted to stick his tongue out at them as they left, but that would be a bit too childish. He must be spending too much time around Sachio and the other kids.

Once the doctors closed the door behind them, he breathed a sigh and released some tension in his body that he hadn’t realized he was holding. He leaned back into the fluffy pillow he had been sleeping on. It felt nice, but almost too soft. He wasn’t used to this level of luxury.

He couldn’t- _shouldn’t_ \- go wandering around to find his teammates. For now, he was content to be alone since he was still trying to absorb what happened. He stared down at his bandaged hands as they rested in his lap and flexed them to see how much they hurt. Hot, sharp pain shot up his forearm and he winced. He internally marveled at Yuri’s refined strength and boxing prowess as he took stock of how his injuries were feeling, at how he was able to defeat him.

_We really are like wild animals._

Several minutes of silence passed as he tried not to move too much. He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he was lost in his thoughts before he heard a knock on the door. Before he could give a reply, the door opened anyway and the rest of Team Nowhere walked in.

“Joe! How’s it feel to be the champion?!” Nanbu had no patience for beating around the bush, especially when he was excited, and he had been eager to speak to Joe ever since the new champion had passed out in his arms.

“It’s…pretty crazy, pops. We really did it.”

“Everyone couldn’t stop saying your name!” Sachio exclaimed as he bounced up and down by Joe’s side. He had been the most anxious while waiting for Joe to wake up. The kid still wasn’t as used to seeing Joe in such bad shape as Nanbu was. “They’re still talking about how awesome the match was!”

Joe laughed a little and smiled down at Sachio. He reached over to ruffle his hair a little bit since the kid wasn’t wearing his hat, which earned him a playfully annoyed look as Sachio stuck his tongue out in defiance. Joe laughed more at Sachio’s reaction, but quickly doubled over in pain as the laughter turned into a small coughing fit. He could see spots of blood on his bandaged hands after he pulled them away from his mouth.

“Yuri really did a number on you, huh?” Nanbu asked once Joe stopped coughing. The boxer flashed his trademark cocky smirk. The coach couldn’t see it, but he could tell it was there since he heard the little huff Joe normally lets out when he smirks like that.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Joe’s face then turned serious, and he went back to looking at his hands. He could still feel the impact from his final punch that knocked out his opponent. “The doctors wouldn’t tell me about him.”

Nanbu sighed. He was hoping that would come up later rather than sooner. He was still wanting to celebrate the victory and didn’t want the mood to be dampened, but he also didn’t want to deny the kid the information he wanted.

“I’ll be honest, Joe. He’s not doin’ good. He hasn’t woken up yet, and Mikio Shirato said there would be permanent effects from having his gear removed.”

“Mikio? What’s he been doing here? I thought he was done with Shirato and his sister.”

“As far as I know, he still is. But he’s been the one coming by to check on Yuri. Apparently he was the one who did the surgery to remove his gear.”

“Ah.”

“You ok, big bro?” Sachio asked. Joe had clenched his hands, despite the pain it was causing him, and they were shaking. He didn’t normally lose his composure in front of these two unless they were the ones to piss him off, but he suddenly was finding it harder than normal to keep himself together.

“I won’t get to fight him again, will I?”

“I don’t know, kid.”

The fight with Yuri was the best moment of his life. It was better than any high he could’ve had while living in the slums. Thoughts of the match relentlessly swirled through his head. He wanted nothing more then to face off against his rival in the ring again.

An unexpected anger began simmering in his gut, but that didn’t bother him all that much. He was used to being a reckless, angry stray. What he didn’t want to think about was the hollow, dreadful feeling hiding underneath it that he had never felt before. He didn’t really care anymore about being the reigning champion, or about all the prize money he had likely won from the final fight. He wanted to fight Yuri again, someday.

He wanted nothing more than to see him again and make sure he was ok.

“There’s not much use in thinking about it right now, kid. There’s nothing you can do about it. For now, let’s enjoy your victory!”

“We got you food while we were gone!” Sachio chimed in, hoping to make Joe feel better. He thrust a big cup covered by a lid that Joe had yet to notice into his hands. “The doc said you need to eat hospital food for now, but it sucks. We got you something better!”

Joe quickly pulled apart the cheap chopsticks Sachio had also handed him and opened the cup to find ramen from his favorite hole-in-the-wall place in the slums, a place that he often frequented whenever he had a little extra cash. For a brief moment he forgot about the feelings he didn’t quite understand and realized how hungry he was. Joe attempted to say thank you as he scarfed down the food, but it was almost too muffled for his teammates to understand.

“Careful, Joe, you don’t wanna choke!”

With near perfect comedic timing, Joe spluttered as he stuffed his face too full of ramen as Nanbu playfully reprimanded him. His teammates began laughing at his expense, and he was quick to join in once he finished choking down the huge mouthful of ramen. Well, at least until he started coughing again. He’d have to remember later to not let Nanbu crack any shitty jokes around him for a while.

~o~o~o~o~o~

Joe sat alone in his room again, bored. Nanbu and Sachio had yet to come see him today, and he was still being forced to stay in bed most of the time for a faster recovery. The near-constant nervous energy he’d had the past couple days was almost too much for him to handle. Despite this, he was thankful to be stuck in a plain beige and white room, bored, instead of dealing with the press that his team was likely trying to keep away from him so he could focus on his recovery. He had always hated cameras and news reporters, so he was glad that Nanbu was always willing to deal with that part of things. It was only an occasional occurrence for his coach to force him in front of the cameras and set up interviews anyway to “reinforce his image.”

Even so, he wasn’t sure what to do about all this pent up energy, and he would almost welcome even Nanbu’s unwarranted advice at this point. The old man never knew when to shut up sometimes. They were remarkably similar in that way.

His teammates were the ones who had been feeding him bits and pieces on Yuri’s condition whenever they came to see him. They ran into Mikio often as they came and left since Yuri’s room was apparently on the same floor as his, and the ex-Shirato would update them on how he was doing. No one else ever comes to see him, according to Nanbu, not even Yukiko. Yuri’s bold act of defiance must have been enough for his rival’s “owner” to abandon him. Joe didn’t want to think of the possible ramifications of that.

He hadn’t gone to see him. His heart rate spiked a little every time he thought of the possibility. What would he say if he walked in to find him awake and conscious? What would he do if he walked in on his rival in the middle of a moment of weakness and intense pain? He didn’t know.

Joe heard a familiar knock on the door, and he perked up at the thought of a distraction from his thoughts. Sachio and Nanbu entered, while a third person lingered a little bit behind them. It was Mikio.

“You have a visitor,” the way Nanbu said it almost sounded like a question. He wanted to make sure Joe was in the mood to talk to someone he wasn’t so familiar with before letting him in.

“Mikio?”

The AI developer turned megaloboxer took that as permission to enter, and he stepped forward to stand beside Nanbu.

“It’s been a while, Joe.” 

Mikio looked like a completely different person. His black hair was fluffy, somewhat messy, and pushed back from his face. His attire was no longer the sleek, white clothing that were a trademark look for the Shirato siblings. Instead he wore casual, comfortable looking jeans and a light colored long sleeve shirt. He held a travel mug in his hand that would have contained coffee before his transformation, but now had herbal tea within it. His eyes, although still calculating, had a softer look to them.

“Why did you come to see me?” Joe skipped past the pleasantries and went straight to the point. He knew Mikio had to have a specific reason to come see him. He couldn’t imagine one of his previous opponents visiting him just for the hell of it.

“Yuri is awake.”

Joe’s eyes widened instantly, but he kept all other signs of shock off his face. He didn’t need someone else catching on to his inner turmoil.

“I would like to speak with him, alone, if that’s alright,” Mikio looked to Joe as he said this, and got a nod in response.

“See ya later, then, Joe. We’ll come check on you again tonight.”

“But, pops, I wanted to see Joe!”

“Relax, Sachio! You’ll have plenty of time to talk to him later. We can even bring your friends with us when we come back.”

“Fine…see ya later, big bro.”

Joe directed a smile at Sachio as they left to reassure him, then turned his attention back to Mikio after they left.

“Should I be thanking you for getting me into this nice ass hospital? I didn’t think they would let someone like me in here, especially after beating the reigning champion.”

Joe was eager to not let an awkward silence settle between the two of them. He may not particularly want to thank one of his previous obstacles, but he had enough respect for him to give thanks where it might be due.

“Believe it or not, you actually have quite a few fans working here.”

“Heh, didn’t sound like it from the way those doctors talk to me.” Joe felt a wry smile twist his face, and Mikio shrugged nonchalantly in response. Unlike Joe, he was used to dealing with stuck up scientists and doctors. He used to be one, after all.

“Besides, this is the closest hospital to the arena so they were prepared to take you both in anyway. If anyone had tried to turn either of you away after the fight, Yukiko would have given them hell.”

“Why the hell would she care about me? I beat her champion.”

“You earned your way into her tournament against all the odds stacked against you. She may not like you, but she respects your guts.”

Joe didn’t know how to respond to that. He scrambled to think of something, anything else to say to avoid the silence he so desperately didn’t want to sit through. He wanted to ask about Yuri, but didn’t know how.

“You should go see him, you know,” Mikio said, and couldn’t help a tiny smirk. Joe wondered how he read his mind. “He’s already feeling lonely without his dog, so he could use some company.”

Joe narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t help but feel like there was a double meaning behind those words, despite the fact that Mikio must be referring to Yuri’s Husky. Mikio’s face then turned serious before he continued speaking.

“Before you do, though, there are some things I feel like you should know.”

Joe held eye contact with Mikio.

“Yuri is no longer associated with Shirato. When he had me remove his gear, Yukiko turned her back on him. And the surgery…”

Joe clenched his fists. He ignored the pain.

“It went better than I anticipated, considering the result could have been fatal, but there were still complications. The gear was connected to his nervous system, so removing it was going to have lasting effects regardless of how well the surgery went. He would be in better shape if he had given himself more time to recover, but during the fight with you he pushed himself further and harder than he ever had before. If he had sat down at all between the rounds, he wouldn’t have been able to get back up.”

He finally broke eye contact with Mikio when he paused again, and looked down at his shaking hands. How had he not noticed during the fight?

“His mobility is severely limited, and he will need a wheelchair from now on. Yuri will never fight again.”

The words dealt a blow to Joe’s heart that he did not expect. A wave of frustration and anger began to consume him, causing his chest to feel tight and his breathing to become shallow.

“Why?” Joe questioned quietly as he struggled to keep his composure.

“I could tell you, but I think it would be better for Yuri to tell you himself.”

Mikio stared him down. There was an intensity in his eyes that Joe tried to match when they locked eyes again.

“You should go see him,” the ex-Shirato insisted again. Joe waited a few moments, then nodded.

“I will.”

 


End file.
